The Kenyan government says it has ordered an investigation with a view to prosecuting the makers of an Al-Jazeera documentary which appeared to show Kenya officials admitting that police assassinate suspects in operations planned at the highest level of government.

The report, released on Monday, says the orders to carry out extrajudicial killings come from Kenya's National Security Council, which includes the president, the chief of defense forces and the top police chief.

The most high-profile police killings are aimed at Muslim leaders believed to have links to Islamic extremists.

Al-Jazeera's findings follow an Associated Press report on Friday which said that Kenyan officers are killing unarmed terror suspects, criminals, shakedown victims and even children, a tactic that is spreading fear, breeding corruption and complicating efforts to deal with terrorism.